Physico-chemical and sensory evaluation of wines from different citrus fruits of Himachal Pradesh

Attempt made to prepare and evaluate wines from different citrus fruits viz; mandarin, orange, kinnow and galgal is reported here. The must from kinnow fruits had the highest rate of fermentation while that of galgal recorded the lowest. Wines from different citrus fruits differed for various physio-chemical characteristics like aldehyde, colour, ethanol, pH and titrable acidity. All the wines except that of galgal were comparable in various physico-chemical characteristics TSS, pH and titratable acidity. All the wines recorded a score of more than 12 for their sensory qualities thus these were found to be acceptable. On the basis of Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA), it was concluded that orange and kinnow wines were rich in characteristic flavour of the respective citrus fruits. While high variations in other characteristics like alcoholic, aromatic were recorded, the descriptors like sweet, molasses, yeasty, musty were comparable. Bitterness was perceptible in all the citrus wine though the extent varied. It is concluded that out of various citrus wines, those from mandarin and orange were more acceptable than others on the basis of sensory score.